Lily Evans: The Puppet Master
by WoeMeTheWriter
Summary: She has a hold over his heart and he doesn't know what to do with himself.


_Written for Round 5 of QLFC- Write about your team's chosen character in their 6th Year._

 _Thank you Raybe for beta'ing._

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 **Lily Evans: The Puppet Master**

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He found her crying by the fireplace, her soft sobs filling up the empty common room.

It was the middle of November and chilly winds blew wildly outside the stone walls of Hogwarts, but it had been far too stuffy in his dorm. His plan was to head to the Astronomy Tower to cool off and clear his mind of some... stuff, but this plan was soon discarded when he saw her there: her flaming hair looked like it was dancing in the fire-light and her eyes, though full of tears, were still beautiful to look at.

He didn't know what to do. If he made his presence known he would have to _talk_ to her and lately his tongue has been failing him around her. But if he didn't say anything he would have wasted an opportunity to comfort her - _maybe even hug her!_

This was much more than he could take: _Sirius Black swooning over a girl! Ridiculous!_ More like the girls should be swooning over him. But it was no use denying the hold she had over his heart; like a puppet master over the weak and powerless puppet.

"Sirius?"

 _Damn it!_

"Sirius, what are you doing?"

 _Damn. Damn. Damn._

"Sirius Black-"

"Hey, Evans," he said, praying that his voice came out casual. "What are you doing down here?" Sirius asked, walking down the rest of the stairs."It's almost two o'clock."

"Oh," Lily tried to wipe her tear stained face casually. "Must have lost track of time."

"While doing what? Staring into the fire?" But as the words left Sirius, his eyes caught a piece of parchment, it looked like a letter, and a picture of a- but Lily took up the picture and letter and held them against her chest quickly.

"Lily, are you okay?" _Wow. Way to go Sirius. Of course she's not alright!_

"Um, yeah I'm fine, I'm just being stupid," Lily brushed it off, but silent tears started to stream down her pale cheeks.

"If your bloody sister wrote something about being a witch-"

"It's not about my sister," she interrupted, glancing at the Polaroid she held tightly. Sirius had the irrational urge to hug her and dry her eyes, but also walk away from the scene before he did something he would regret.

Sirius sighed deeply and sat next to Lily in front of the fire, making sure he wasn't close enough to touch her. He didn't want his body going all weird too. "I'm all ears, Lily."

She tried to compose herself; square her shoulders and hold her head high, but in a few seconds her facade crumbled and she was sobbing more violently than before.

"Evans!?" Sirius said, startled by the amount of tears pouring out of her eyes. "What-What's wrong, Lily?" He awkwardly wrapped his arms around the redhead and pulled her into his chest, successfully muffling her sobs.

"S-sorry for being a complete baby," she apologised, her occasional sniffs making Sirius want to hug her more tightly.

"What's wrong?" he asked more firmly than before, tilting her head up so he could see her face. If Lily's eyes weren't dull from sadness or if Sirius was sure that he didn't stink of sweat, he have kissed her lips there and then. He couldn't ask for any better circumstances than this! An empty common room, a burning fire in the background and of course the two finally alone and in close proximity.

Throwing just a bit of caution to the wind, Sirius placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and gave her an encouraging smile. Her face flushed bright pink.

"Umm, well, I received a letter from my mum and... I found out my dog died." Lily chuckled despite her words and Sirius could see her eyes glossing over again.

"That's horrible, Lily. Why are you laughing?"

"Because, here I am crying over a dog and the whole Wizarding world is changing before our eyes. People are dying, getting kidnapped and I'm sobbing over something so trivial!" she exclaimed, looking suddenly angry with herself. "I-I just need to sort myself out."

"Lily, it's okay to be sad, you know, especially over the death of your dog! You don't always have to be strong, fierce, Lily. You don't always have to put on a brave face."

"Maybe I do. Being a muggle-born-"

"Blood status has nothing to do with anything!" Sirius said through gritted teeth. Lily narrowed her green eyes and observed him.

"We don't live in a perfect world, Sirius. If I started crying in front of the whole school, people are going to think I can't handle... whatever's happening at the moment. They are going to think I'm weak."

"You are one of the strongest people I know." Lily rose a questioning eyebrow and he quickly added, "From what people have told me of course."

They sat there in complete silence for a while, staring into the bright embers and getting lost in their thoughts. Sirius felt strange. Whenever he felt strange, or any other emotion than happy, he would go to the Marauders and plan another prank to distract himself or to make him content. But this kind of feeling seemed like it wouldn't be cured by playing a prank on Filch or by throwing stink bombs on a bunch of Slytherins. He needed to clear his head and the only way he usually cleared his head was by-

"Hey, Lily, do you want to go flying?"

(***)

"We shouldn't be out here, Sirius," Lily hissed, "It's after hours and I'm a Prefect!"

"Deep breaths, Lily. You have to embrace rule-breaking, not reject it."

"I want to embrace my cozy bed- are you unlocking the broom cupboard?!"

Sirius smirked. "Maybe - _click_ \- yes!" The broom cupboard door creaked open, revealing an abundance of shoddy brooms.

"You would think that the school would take more precautions with the lock," Lily said, examining the key hole. "If the teachers put wards over the lock, if you cast any magic on it the caster would be alerted, but a simple hairpin isn't considered anything magical, thus you are able to open the cupboard."

Sirius smirked again, wondering where she got such a brilliant mind from. "Correct as always, Evans. Now, have you ever tried flying before?"

"Of course I have." Lily crossed her arms over her chest in a childish manner.

"After first year?" Lily dropped her arms and kept her eyes on the floor, while Sirius tried his hardest not to laugh.

"Come on! Not even once after first year?"

"I am not a fan of flying, Black," she sighed. "I don't know why you are asking me these questions. I'm not flying. Not today. Not ever."

"Don't be so stubborn; stingy doesn't work in this context! And why would you follow me out here if you didn't want to fly?"

Lily was about to say something, but snapped her mouth shut again. Sirius cocked his head slightly to the side and raised his eyebrows.

"I-I don't know. I just needed some air, I guess," she said finally, running her dainty fingers through her hair.

Sirius offered her a small smile and walked up to her. Taking her hand in his, he placed the broom in her hand. "Remember: kick off strong or you might lose your balance, hold the broom tightly at all times and don't go too fast or you might find yourself flying off the broom."

Lily gulped. "What-what if I fall?"

"Then, I will always catch you," he only half joked, but even though Lily blushed slightly, she narrowed her eyes.

"I'm being serious."

Sirius sighed, not really knowing how to pacify a nervous flyer as he had always been so confident, and he said, "Flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss."

Lily looked genuinely shocked at the maturity she found in his eyes and how encouraging his smile was. "That sounds... painful, but," she sighed, knowing that she was going to look absolutely ridiculous, "I'm not a Gryffindor for nothing," and she kicked off of the frosty ground.

Sirius watched her go; like a red shooting star in the sky, on standby just in case she had a wobble. But she flew smoothly, and he could hear her beautiful laughter carry on the wind.

But then he saw her become unbalanced, the broom must of came into a jolting fit, and in a blink of an eye, she was swinging in the air, only one small hand clutched on the broom. It only took a couple of seconds for Sirius to kick off his broom and race over to where Lily was hanging on for dear life.

"Sirius!" she screamed, finally letting go, but luckily Sirius got there just in time and he caught her slim wrist. She gave him a relieved smile, which didn't quite reach her startled green eyes.

"I told you I would catch you."

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 **Team: Montrose Magpies**

 **Position: Beater (2)**

 **Prompts:**

 **(quote) 'Flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.' - Douglas Adams**

 **(word) ridiculous**

 **Word Count: 1488**

 **Character: Sirius Black**


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